“There is no way that I can make it the way I make it
without God. He has to be the first voice I talk to in the morning
and the last voice I hear at night.” Yolanda Adams

Grammy Award winning American Gospel music singer Yolanda Adams
scored mainstream breakthrough with the 1999 album “Mountain
High... Valley Low,” which brought Adams her first Grammy
Award and went double platinum in the United States. It spawned the
award winning single “Open My Heart.” She won her next
Grammy Award for the 2001 live album “The Experience.”
After the gold record “Believe” (2001), Adams did not
launch another studio album until 2005's “Day By Day,”
which hit No. 23 on the Billboard 200, her highest charting position
to date. The album contains the Grammy Award winning singles “Be
Blessed” and “Victory.” Recently, on May 3, 2011,
Adams released a new album titled “Becoming.” Adding to
her Grammys, the former elementary school teacher has won four of the
Gospel Music Association's Dove Awards, one American Music Award,
seven NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Music Award and three BET
Awards.

Apart from music, Adams is known as the host of the popular radio
show “The Yolanda Adams Morning Show,” which currently
airs on Urban Gospel stations owned by Radio One. Sin 2010, she
released her first book, “Points of Power,” which is
based on one of the segments of her radio show of the same title.

Adams has one daughter with her former husband, Timothy Crawford,
whom she married for eight years from 1997 to 2005. She was the
spokesperson for the FILA Corporation's Operation Rebound, a program
that addressed the concern of inner city schoolchildren.

Teacher

Childhood and Family:

The oldest of six children, Yolanda Yvette Adams, who would later
be popular as Yolanda Adams, was born on August 27, 1961, in Houston,
Texas. She graduated from Sterling High School in 1979 and went on
to attend Texas Southern University. After college, she became an
elementary school teacher and had a part time job as a model in
Houston. She later quit teaching to pursue her dream of becoming a
singer.

In 1997, Yolanda married former NFL player Timothy Crawford Jr.,
but the couple later divorced in 2005. The marriage produced one
child, daughter Taylor Ayanna Crawford. Commenting on having a
daughter in her life during Christmas, she said, “Giving was
the whole purpose for Christ's coming to Earth. But knowing that
there's this little face that will wake up every Christmas morning,
smile and say, 'Oh, Mommy I love you so much' because of my giving to
her now is just too precious.'”

Mountain High... Valley Low

Career:

Yolanda Adams began her music career as a lead singer for
Houston's Southeast Inspirational Choir related with the Church of
God in Christ, under the direction of Carl Preacher, Brenda Waters,
and Shirley Joiner. In 1982, the choir launched the single “For
My Liberty” with Adams being the featured vocalist. It was
during her tenure with the choir that she first caught the eye of
Thomas Whitfield and Sound of Gospel Records. In 1986, she appeared
on the Edwin Hawkins Music and Arts Seminar Choir release “Give
Us Peace,” with a performance titled “My Trust Lies In
You.”

Adams was eventually signed to Sound of Gospel, and her debut
album, “Just as I Am,” was released in 1987. Produced by
Thomas Whitfield, the album reached No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard Top
Gospel Albums.

In 1990, Adams attracted the attention of producer/keyboardist Ben
Tankard, who then signed her to his independent label Tribute
Records. Her second studio album, “Through The Storm,”
followed on December 26, 1991, with Tankard as producer. Like its
predecessor, the album also peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Top
Gospel Albums. The album won a 1992 Dove for Traditional Gospel
Album of the Year, while the title track picking up the Traditional
Gospel Song of the Year category. The third studio album “Save
the World” (1993), which was also produced by Tankard, reached
No. 6 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums. It featured her first
signature song “The Battle Is The Lord's.” In 1994,
Tankard featured Adam's jazzy vocals on his album and concept video
single “You Bring Out The Best In Me” on his release
“Play Me in Your Key.” The collaboration garnered
favorable reviews from gospel, jazz and “quiet storm”
formats.

Adams returned with a new studio album, “More Than a
Melody,” in October 1995. The album, which featured musical
collaborations with the late O'Landa Draper on “The Good
Shepherd” and BeBe Winans on “What About The Children,”
reached No. 4 on both the Billboard Top Gospel Albums and the
Billboard Top Contemporary Christian. The single “Gotta Have
Love” (1995), featuring Tony Terry on background vocals,
received mainstream notoriety and became her first single and music
video. The song peaked at No. 97 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Initially released on Tribute Records, “More Than a Melody”
was later re-issued under the Verity after Tribute's acquisition in
1996.

On June 1, 1996, Adams released a first live album called
“Yolanda...Live in Washington” through Verity Records.
The albums featured materials from her first three albums, and peaked
at No. 5 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums and No. 25 on the
Billboard Top Contemporary Christian. The live version of “The
Battle Is the Lord's” charted at No. 75 on the Billboard Hot
100 and No. 101 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The song helped
Adams received her first Grammy nomination for “Yolanda...Live
in Washington.”

Her last release for Venity Records, “Songs from the Heart”
was released on September 15, 1998. The album peaked at No. 3 on the
Billboard Top Gospel Albums, No. 9 on the Billboard Top Contemporary
and No. 15 on the Billboard Heatseekers. It featured the contemporary
radio hit song “Only Believe” and “Still I Rise,”
a song dedicated to Rosa Park which was inspired by the Maya Angelou
poem of the same name. Another song, “Is Your All on the
Altar,” won a 1999 Dove for Traditional Gospel Song of the
Year.

Adams, however, did not experience mainstream breakthrough until
the release of “Mountain High... Valley Low” through
Elektra Records on September 21, 1999. The album reached the top spot
on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums, the Billboard Top Contemporary
Christian and the Billboard Heatseekers, and was a Top 10 hit on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (#5). It also cracked the Billboard 200 at
No. 24. The first single “Open My Heart,” which Adams
wrote with Terry Lewis, James Harris, and James “Big Jim”
Wright), peaked at No. 10 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and
No. 57 on the Hot U.S. 100 chart and won a 2001 Soul Train Music for
Best R&B Soul Single, Female as well as a 2001 NAACP Image for
Outstanding Song. The song helped the album receive double platinum
status in the US, becoming the artist's bestselling record to date.
The follow up singles “Yeah,” written by Tina Campbell
and Erica Campbell, and “Fragile Heart,” written by
Adams, Louis Brown and Scott Parker, peaked at No. 13 and No. 25 on
the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, respectively.
“Mountain High... Valley Low” won a 1999 Grammy for Best
Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. A compilation album titled “The
Best of Yolanda Adams” followed on October 26, 1999. It reached
No. 23 on the Top Contemporary Christian chart and went gold in the
United States.

Adam's second release for Elektra, a Christmas album called
“Christmas with Yolanda Adams,” hit the music stores on
October 24, 2000. The album topped the Billboard Top Gospel Albums
chart and charted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Contemporary
Christian. It also made it to the Top 40 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums (#31) and peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard 200. A second live
album, “The Experience,” was released on March 20, 2001.
It was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian, a
No.2 hit on the Top Gospel Albums, a No. 24 hit on the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and a No. 63 hit on the Billboard 200. The
album earned Adams her second Grammy for Best Contemporary Soul
Gospel Album. The eighth studio album “Believe” followed
on December 4, 2001. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel
Albums, No. 2 on the Top Contemporary Christian, No. 7 on the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 42 on the Billboard 200 and went on
to received gold certification from the RIAA. The first single “Never
Give Up” peaked at No. 79 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, while the next single “I'm Gonna Be Ready” peaked
at No. 74 on the same chart. 2001 also saw the release of the
compilation album “Yolanda Adams and Albertina Walker “The
Divas of Gospel””. The same year, Adams also became
presenter on “2001 Lady of Soul Awards” and was handed a
NAACP Image for Outstanding Performance in a Variety Series/Special
for her effort.

In 2002, Adams recorded the song “If We Could Remember”
for the soundtrack to the action /political thriller film “The
Sum of All Fears,” directed by Phil Alden Robinson starring Ben
Affleck and Morgan Freeman. The same year, she also appeared on Karen
Clark Sheard's album “2nd Chance” on the songs “Higher
Ground” and “Brand New Day.” In the following
year, she performed “The Prayer,” a cover of Celine Dion
and Andrea Bocelli song, along with Donnie McClurkin, and it included
in his album, “Again.” In addition, she recorded the song
“I Believe” for the 2003 film “Honey,”
starring Jessica Alba. In 2004, she was featured on saxophonist Kenny
G.'s second cover album, “At Last...The Duets Album”
singing “I Believe I Can Fly.”

After almost four years without releasing an album, Adams returned
with “Day By Day” on May 3, 2005. Released on Atlantic
Records, the album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums,
No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 23 on the
Billboard Billboard 200. It was nominated for a Dove Award for Urban
of the Year at the 37th GMA Dove Awards. The lead single “Be
Blessed” topped the Gospel Billboard chart, making it one of
the most successful Gospel songs of 2005, and won a 2005 Grammy for
Best Gospel Song. The song also received a Dove nomination for
Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year. The next single
“Victory” was an immediate hit, peaked at No. 3 on the
Gospel Billboard chart and won a Grammy for Best Gospel Performance.
The song was featured on the Rob Hardy 2005 film “The Gospel.”
The album also spawned the singles “Someone Watching Over You”
and “This Too Shall Pass,” which reached No. 59 on the
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 15 on the Billboard
Gospel, respectively, with the latter also being nominated for a 2007
Dove in the category of Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the
Year.

After ending her partnership with Atlantic Records, Atlantic
released a greatest hits collection, “The Best of Me,” on
May 8, 2007. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel
Albums, No. 9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 60 on the
Billboard Billboard 200. Later that same year, on October 17, 2007,
she launched second holiday album, “What a Wonderful Time,”
on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top
Gospel Albums, No. 28 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
and No. 179 on the Billboard Billboard 200. the single “Hold
On” was very successful on Urban contemporary and Gospel radio,
peaking at Np.26 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart, No. on the
Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, and No. 15 on the Hot
Gospel Songs chart. 2007 also found Adams recording “Step
Aside” for the soundtrack to Tyler Perry's drama film,
“Daddy's Little Girls.”The song reached No. 10 on the
Billboard Gospel

On September 2, 2008, Sony Legacy released a greatest hits album
titled “Playlist: The Very Best of Yolanda Adams.” It
peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums.

Adams's new studio album, “Becoming,” was released on
May 3, 2011 via N House Music Group. It marks her first album in four
years. The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums,
No. 18 on the Billboard Independent Albums, No. 22 on the Billboard
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 99 on the Billboard Billboard 200
. The lead single “Be Still” charted at No. 9 on the
Billboard Gospel Song.

Awards:

NAACP Image: Outstanding Gospel Artist, 2006

Grammy: Best Gospel Performance, “Victory,” from
“Day By Day & The Gospel Soundtrack,” 2006

Grammy: Best Gospel Song, “Be Blessed,” from “Day
By Day,” 2005

Dove: Special Event CD of the Year, “The Passion of the
Christ” (song: “How Many Lashes”), 2005